Do you need a snow day? Create a virtual snowflake without folding and cutting. Send it to your friends and family with a message. You will receive notification when someone responds. The site keeps track of the total amount of flakes ever made (currently over 12 million). The site also tells you how many others are currently creating snowflakes (in "real time") by sharing "Current Conditions."This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Let it snow all day with these virtual snowflakes. Challenge students to write poetry to include when students send their snowflakes to parents or grandparents. Research winter animals, places, or birds and put information and write facts on snowflakes. Create and make a multimedia presentation with your different snowflakes. Make a blizzard of all of your snowflake messages! Virtually cutting and creating snowflakes may become addicting!

Maptia is a bold, beautiful world of thoughtful and inspiring stories told through photographs by photographers, adventurers, and writers. Explore stories categorized by places, themes, and storytellers. Stories focus on portraying an individual perspective of the location and why it matters on a personal level. Find a collection of inspiring stories by people and organizations who are making a difference in many corners of the world. When browsing through offerings, information includes a short synopsis along with the location featured and an estimate of time to read the story. Create an account to add your stories. Bookmark and save favorites for viewing at any time. Maptia works well for viewing in all browsers, but it is optimized for Chrome and Safari when creating stories.

In the Classroom

Share Maptia on your interactive whiteboard or projector to discover personal stories from anywhere in the world. Share with students as examples of personal narrative writing. Challenge students to create an account and add their own personal stories. To find even more stories like those under Causes see The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heros, reviewed here, and follow their ten steps for writing about people who make a difference. Create a class account and bookmark favorites. Share with students through a link on your class web page. Display photographs for use as a creative writing prompt.

Get your recycling facts from this source. Find a mountain of information about recycling mountains of stuff! View a variety of articles on this site. Find the Categories drop down on the right side to choose particular types of recycling from Compost, Electronics, Oil, Recycling Equipment, and more. Enter email information to subscribe to their newsletter at the bottom of the site.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use the information on this site to inform students about the various items that can be recycled. Consider using the site as background information for student created surveys for students and their families to complete. Use the information from the surveys to develop a campaign to bring awareness to consumption and use patterns that can save money for families as well as landfill space. Create a survey or a poll using Obsurvey, reviewed here. Use this site for meeting the Common Core Standards for nonfiction reading. Provide a link to the Recycling Facts Guide on your class website. Create a student project where students use information on this site to create a campaign to promote awareness about recycling. Debate recycling and recycling programs by comparing information from this site and others as well as misconceptions many may have. Use the information here to establish a recycling campaign in your school or community. Use this site as inspiration to write a story or cartoon based on the life of a particular resource.

At Getty Images, select from millions of photos. Explore more than 100 years of photography from Woodrow Wilson to the most recent American Music Awards. Under the Editorial tab, search by Sports, Entertainment, News, Archival Photos, and Editorial Collections. For most of this collection, the watermark has been dropped, and the service appends a footer at the bottom of the picture with credit and a link to the licensing page. Creating an account is optional. There is also a video category; however this review is about the images only.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site in every subject area where images can convey concepts or students make projects. Share an intriguing photo on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a writing prompt for a short story (or poem). Use images for extra practice when writing in world languages, by having students describe the scene or tell a story about it. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. When looking for free materials for use in projects or to place on websites, begin the search here. Be sure to keep a link to this site on your wiki, blog, or web page for students to use whenever they are working on a project. Not comfortable with wikis or blogs? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through and Blog Basics.

Want to make sure you are up to speed on all your Common Core resources? The links guide you to resources in math, language arts, writing, reading, science, and technology. Find a short description of the site, and then go directly to the site. There is also quite a bit of professional information about the Common Core standards. Substitute teachers can easily be led to ready to go Common Core sites.

In the Classroom

Challenge yourself to explore the resources found on Common Core Resources. Add into your lesson plans so you remember to share with our colleagues. Make sure to document to add on to your teacher evaluation. Share at your professional learning community every month.

Enter the polar region and find reproducibles, lessons, and web links about penguins. Informational and narrative book resources with discussion guides include: Mr. Popper's Penguins, Penguin Pete and Pat, Penguins Head to Toe, A Let's Find Out Issue, The Penguin in the Parking Lot, and Get to Know the Stars. Text passages included are: Antarctica Breaking, A Penguin Chick's Life, and Galapagos Islands. Art activities include a show box penguin and a water bottle penguin. Enjoy Arctic Fun in the Sun activities. Science Explorations online learning activities examine animals, adaptations, and the Galapagos Islands. PreK activities are available for art, music, social studies, music and movement.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use these literary resources to meet your Common Core standards for narrative and informational text. Integrate your language arts into your science curriculum while studying animals, adaptation, or habitats. Participate in reading and writing penguin fun. Share text on your interactive whiteboard and focus on main idea, details, inferences, sentence types, note taking, or characteristics of great writing. Start with informational pieces and then lead into narrative books for a deeper comprehension. After reading informational articles, have students write a narrative integrating details for the setting and penguin information into their stories. Post the stories on your blog or class website. Use digital storytelling to make it come alive.

Jingle all the way to find a merry collection of Christmas interactives. Here you will find the Reindeer Orchestra (music can be created by YOU), many math challenges, "decorating" art fun, coordinate challenges, word searches, logic games, puzzles, and more!

In the Classroom

Add this site to your lesson plans to use in December. They are sure to motivate your students! Introduce the activities on your interactive whiteboard. Bookmark (or save) these games at your classroom computers to used during center time. Share this link on your class website for students to use at home.

In the Classroom

Add this site to your lesson plans to use in the fall. Introduce activities on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Bookmark (or favorite) this site on your classroom computers. Use the math activities for a learning station. Share the link on your class website.

See photographs and captions of current daily news from around the world. In addition to showing professional pictures, you can contribute your own special photos. Each photo included a clickable caption. Click on the caption to view more photos and read simple explanations.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use the photos on this page as a jumping off site for many activities. Challenge students to read about the same topic/news using a different site and then writing a comparison essay. Students can submit their own photos for consideration. Students can learn summary writing by looking at these photos and writing briefly what happened. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Thinglink, reviewed here.This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to upload a copyright-safe photo, and then narrate as if it were a news report. Students of multiple ability levels can respond to the photos, each at their own ability level.

This ESL/ELL instruction site offers multiple podcasts on topics about being a student, about random topics of interest to young people, and about Australia (since its creator lives there). You can download and save all episodes, sign up to get RSS feeds, and be notified of updates when new ones go online. PDF's of the scripts are free. Episode guides that include a tapescript, exercises, and vocabulary are available for a minimal fee, but episode 2's materials are available for free.

In the Classroom

Assign specific podcasts to students and have them make their own question and vocabulary studies. Bookmark this site for use when studying Oceania (and Australia). Share this link on your class website for your ESL/ELL students to use both in and out of the classroom.

Build scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, webquests, or extend learning using Trackstar. To make a track, think of a descriptive title, and write a description. Select from creating a Resource list, Worksheet, Extended learning, or Demo. Collect up to 15 websites (know the page title and URL) and create annotations or directions. Viewing the track in frames will have the titles of pages in the left menu bar. Click on the title and the text of the page appears in the center. Any links that are on the page in the center will open in a new tab. Search ready-made Tracks to get an idea of how they work. Viewing tracks in Chrome is possible, but this tool does not seem to work with Chrome to create tracks.

In the Classroom

Create an Internet activity that is useful for students and allows them to work independently or with a partner in class or at home. Demonstrate on an interactive whiteboard or projector how to use the track. Be sure to put the URL for the track on your class website. This tool would be great for flipping your classroom. Students could read and view the sites at home and come to class with their work and their questions ready for a discussion. Create a bank of resources for each content unit within your subject or classroom. Use for web treasure hunts to learn or introduce any topic within your content area. Use for directed research. Search the ready-made tracks by subject, grade level, theme, track number, etc. to find one to use with your class. Collect links to informational texts for students to read "closely" a la CCSS. Students or student groups can create Trackstars of the resources they use for a project. Use with faculty and staff to showcase a variety of tools for professional development. Create Tracks you can share with other teachers in your building or district. If you would like to know more about webquests see TeachersFirst Webquest 101

Have the winter blues? Spice up your classroom with this engaging winter collection of activities in math, reading, puzzles, and more. General categories include Snowflakes, Snowmen, and Gingerbread Men. Design your own snowman, have a virtual snowball fight, learn about symmetry by creating a virtual snowflake, and more.

In the Classroom

Add this site to your lesson plans to use for winter. Introduce simple games on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Bookmark (or save) this link on your class computers. Use as an incentive to promote positive behavior. Share this link on your class website.

Do your students have Spring fever? Hop on over to this collection of Easter games using reading, basic facts, fractions, word finds, and puzzles. There is also an activity to learn about Easter around the world.

In the Classroom

Add this site to your lesson plans to use in March and April. Introduce simple games on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Bookmark these activities on your class computers to used during center time. Share this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom.

Create a 3 Circle Venn Diagram with ease! Provide a title and label the three circles. Decide whether to make a list for each circle first, or start typing directly on the circles. The interactive Venn Diagram allows for generating concepts (ideas, words) and placing them in any of the three circles, or the overlapping area. Simply click and drag the word. When inputting a word, a text box is available to add a detailed description. The program allows editing and printing the finished diagram. (But it does not allow SAVING!) There is no registration required.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate the use of this with a student operating the three circle Venn Diagram on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students compare and contrast three well-known topics such as three television shows or sports. Ask students to suggest the items for the list for each circle. Have your demonstrator show how to drag and drop the items into the circle or overlap area. Then have small groups or individual students create their own Venn Diagrams. Venn Diagrams may be used in any grade level or content area. Use the 3 Circle Venn Diagrams as an icebreaker or beginning of the year activity. Randomly place three students together and have them use the Venn Diagram to show their similarities and differences. Use when forming new small groups during the year for students to get to know each other better. Use the three circle Venn Diagram as a study aid when reviewing a unit in science or history before a test. Compare and contrast three characters, three different versions of the same story, or a literary work and a painting and song, or a painting and film. Another suggestion is to have students compare books in a series and the shared elements in the books.

Granite School District offers an extensive resource of curriculum mapping materials at this comprehensive site. Choose any subject from the elementary or secondary curriculum maps to begin. Choose from curriculum maps aligned to Common Core Standards and SRA Imagine It! textbooks. Some sections also include model lesson plan formats, manipulative lists, instructional schedules, and parent guides. Subjects include all core subjects as well as library, health, music, and more.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year. Download and use curriculum maps, assessment schedules, and parent guides. Be sure to check the math section for several support documents such as lesson plan templates and guides for teaching basic facts. Share with other staff for use as models for lesson planning and curriculum mapping.

The Texas Performance Standards Project (TPSP) is a resource for providing differentiated instruction to gifted/talented (G/T) students. It is also a resource for providing enrichment for any and all students. The site includes materials for grade levels K-12 sorted by grade bands. Each band through 10th grade provides two or more interdisciplinary units including guided instruction as well as opportunity for independent research. The high school (or exit level) band provides for independent study under the guidance of a mentor who is an expert in the student's area of study. All materials are aligned to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards.

In the Classroom

Use this site to meet the needs of your gifted students. Use guides and materials to differentiate instruction in your classroom. Share with other teachers as a resource for collaboration with students across classrooms.

In the Classroom

Add this site to your lesson plans to use for Valentine's Day. Introduce simple games on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Bookmark (or save) these games at your classroom computers to used during center time (or indoor recess). Share this link on your class website for families to explore at home.

In the Classroom

Share these activities on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Save or bookmark this site for learning centers (in early-mid March). Share this link on your class website for families to try at home.

Join Raoudi (Rowdy), the dog, to discover the art of Henri Matisse. Explore the color, pattern, props and other elements that repeat in many of Matisse's paintings. Allow Rowdy to explain all of the artsy details. For the interactive, you match the element used in the two paintings shown. When correct, you get to keep that element in your portfolio. At the conclusion of the presentation you get to make an original masterpiece using color, patterns, or props. Print and hang your masterpiece!

In the Classroom

Present on your interactive whiteboard or projector to bring the art of Henri Matisse to life. Use as an example to discover the elements used by different artists. Create a presentation with various artists using one of the Presentation Tools available at the TeachersFirst Edge. Extend this example into other areas such as literature, poetry, architecture, mathematics, and science. To print the results from this tool have the students use a code for their signature.

Turn digital photos into virtual tours with interactive maps, images, and comments using Mapwing. Create the tours for free. Basic tours offer up to 20 points of entry per floor plan/map. Each area becomes interactive and includes a comment option. Add hotspots to images to view close-up areas or link to websites. Share your tour using the tour's unique URL or use the embed code to embed into your website or blog. To understand the concept, explore tours already uploaded to Mapwing.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Take a look at the already created tours available. You may find something very useful for your classroom. Share HOW to use this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use Mapwing to create virtual tours of your classroom, school, or community. Create a tour of a future field trip location. Or if a field trip is not in the budget, take your students anywhere virtually using this tool. Create a virtual tour to share information about class pets. Challenge students to create a virtual tour to accompany research reports about states or geographic areas. Use at the beginning of the year for a new twist on "how I spent my summer" or beginning of the year introductions. Share this tool at Back to School night as you share your classroom (rules, schedules, and more) with families.